by Anne Key
Eli grabbed her pom-poms for her and handed her one as they headed back up to the garage and the Halloween-themed music. He waved the other one at Erik. “Rah rah brains!”
Erik grabbed it and started dancing around, bouncing and chanting “Brains! Brains!”
“Dork!” She cracked up. Erik was an idiot, but he was a funny idiot.
It was quite a bit cooler and a whole lot brighter in the garage, and she squinted as they made their way across to the food tables.
“Loveable dork, though.” Mari plucked the pom-pom out of Erik’s fingers and handed it back to Sammy.
“Dr Pepper?” Eli asked, already reaching for one for her. He grabbed a Diet Coke for himself and a couple more of those yummy cookies.
“You Texans and your Dr Pepper,” Mari teased.
“It’s a thing. It’s from where I’m from, sort of.”
“Dr Pepper is gross.” Eli winked at her.
“Blasphemer.” She winked right back.
Erik swallowed down an entire can of Coke in one gulp and then let out an enormously gross burp right next to Mari’s ear.
“Erik! Oh my God, I’m breaking up with you!”
Erik laughed. “So, did you guys know Mari is technically grounded?”
“What?”
Mari rolled her eyes “Don’t ask.”
“But your mom let you come to the party anyway?”
“She has a baby curfew.”
Mari landed a nice punch to Erik’s shoulder. It even knocked him back a step.
“Ow! Wow.”
“You’re an asshole.”
Sammy would have taken Mari’s words more seriously except that Mari said that at least twice a day. Every day.
Eli winced. “Nice shot, Mari. What time are they hauling you back in?”
Mari gave Eli a look that could kill. “Nine o’clock.”
“Nine o’clock. Can you believe it? Like she was in fifth grade.”
“At least you got to come, right, honey?” She squeezed Mari’s hand. “It would have totally sucked if you had to miss it.”
“Yeah. I guess they could have completely said no.” Mari grinned. “It would be better if I’d done something awesome that made being grounded worth it. Remind me to tell you the story when Tweedle Dumb and Dumber aren’t around.”
“Hey! I heard that!” Eli laughed.
“You still get your phone, right?” Because that sucked the worst. Take the TV, the laptop, whatever. Leave the phone.
“Thank God, yes. You and Eli can FaceTime me later when the party gets wild.”
Erik was standing behind Mari and tucked his arms around her. “I have to get her home on time. Her mom meant business.”
Eli pulled out his dollar-store pocket watch. He’d painted a gear on the lid. “You taking the bus? We can walk you down the block.”
Mari smiled at him. “You guys are the best.”
“We totally are.” She laughed, her eyes rolling like a snowball down the devil’s back. “Come on. No more trouble.”
She was totally calling Mari tonight to find out what had happened.
It was a short walk to the bus stop, which was good because it was getting chilly. But Eli tucked her against his side on the walk back, and that kind of made it worth being cold.
“So, what’s up when we get back? I was thinking we could wander a little and see what people are wearing.” They side-stepped another couple that was headed in the other direction.
“Sounds good.”
“Have you seen anyone from your dance—”
Someone bumped shoulders with Eli hard enough to make him let go of Sammy and stumble backward.
“Oops. Sorry, Elizabeth. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Careful!” Jesus, what an asshole. “You okay, honey?”
Sammy looked over for just a second, not hardly enough to actually see the guy because all she was worried about was Eli.
“Honey?” The guy looked right at her. “What’s this, a girlfriend?”
“Back off, Brad.” Eli straightened up and stepped toward Sammy, but the guy moved right between them.
“You do know this freak is a girl, right, ‘honey’?”
“Pardon me?” Oh, she did not need this shit. She was having a good time, and she’d figured out that she liked that. Having a good time. With her boyfriend.
“Oh, ho.” Brad looked at Eli. “Hang on, Elizabeth, is she a girlfriend or a bodyguard?”
Sammy rolled her eyes. “I assume these limpdicks know you?”
She had to step careful here. She’d been in fights before, and guys got weird about it. Still, she had zero intention of getting her butt kicked or letting Eli get his handed to him.
For the most part, boys just wanted you to back off and cry, and they’d have to hit her pretty hard to lay her out.
“No. These assholes knew Elizabeth. They don’t know me.” Eli stepped close to Brad. “Get out of my way.”
“Damn, Elizabeth, did you grow a pair or borrow them from your dyke girlfriend?”
Brad’s buddies laughed. They’d been quiet so far. There was no question who was leading this pack. And none of them stepped up as Eli planted both hands on Brad’s chest and gave him a solid shove.
“Don’t you say anything about her, you hear me?”
Okay, that was hot. She was sure it wasn’t supposed to be, but it totally was.
She watched as the Brad guy stumbled back and when he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, she managed not to laugh, although she so wanted to. His friends didn’t, either. Looked like nobody wanted this to get too out of hand.
Brad hauled himself back up and took his time brushing himself off before taking one step toward them. “You’re wasting your time with Dickless here, baby.”
“Back the truck up, asshat. I’m not interested in what you’re offering. I have who I want.” She took Eli’s arm, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Come back to the party? I’m freezing out here.”
Eli could have drilled a hole through Brad with his look. “Dude, you couldn’t get this lucky even if you weren’t such a tool.” He gave Sammy’s arm a squeeze. “Let’s go.”
She nodded and leaned close, refusing to even let them see she was ramped up. If they’d wanted to start something big, they would have done it where more people could see. This Brad guy was a sneaky little shit.
They walked back up the block in silence and Sammy tried to get a read on Eli. He was wound tight, that was for sure, but in what way it was hard to tell. When they got to Kyle’s driveway, though, Eli stopped her. “Hey, I’m sorry about all that.”
“For what? People are assholes.” Sammy knew that Eli had to have taken a raft of shit, and she thought he was the bravest guy ever.
“Yeah, well. They don’t get to be assholes to you.” He hugged her. “I thought maybe you were going to knock his teeth out.” He laughed and let her go. “That was awesome.”
“I’m totally a badass.” She leaned in, lips near his ear. “I have to admit, watching you? That was hot, Eli. Thank you for standing up for me.”
Even if she was 80 percent sure she was meaner.
She was close enough to hear him swallow. “You know, you shouldn’t say stuff like that. It makes my heart race.” He slipped a hand along her neck and just up under her ear. “And then that makes me want to kiss you.”
“I shouldn’t?” She thought that was a silly idea because her entire body was filled with butterflies.
“Well. I mean, if you’re cool with the consequences, say whatever you want.” He kissed her temple first, and then her forehead, the tip of her nose, and finally let his lips hover over hers. “It works for me.”
“You work for me, Eli. Down to the bone.” She took the kiss he offered, letting herself sink against him.
He held her close, and she loved how Eli wasn’t even shy about it anymore. He wasn’t shy about his kiss, either—slow, gentle, definitely not shy.
The applause started, people hooting and holleri
ng, and Sammy’s cheeks heated, but she didn’t jerk away. She wasn’t ashamed. Of course…. She leaned back a little. “How’s my lipstick?”
Eli grinned at her and licked his lips. “I think it’s all over me.” He seemed to ignore both the noise and the audience. “I like the look on you, but it might be a good time for that touch-up.”
“Yeah. I bet.” She pulled back. “Hold my pom-poms?”
Eli blushed. “In front of everybody?”
They looked at each other; then they started to laugh together, leaning into each other and howling like monkeys.
“I… sorry. Couldn’t help it.” Eli was so adorable when he just let himself relax. When he wasn’t trying so hard to blend in. He was still giggling as he let her go and went right back to laughing as he took her pom-poms from her.
“You be careful with those. I’ll be right back.” Sammy waved and found the closest girl to whisper, “Bathroom?” Alice in Wonderland pointed the way, and she bounced off, waving at Harley Quinn and a guy from her science class on her way.
She checked her eyeliner, fixed her lipstick.
See, Momma? I’m making it work.
The thought made her smile.
Then she headed back to the party, and Eli, who was waiting to dance.
GINA HARRIS is caffeinated. When she’s not drinking coffee, she is on the beach or in a boat. Occasionally she can even be found writing. Gina holds a theater degree, and as an author, her strength lies in creating relatable, human characters who are flawed, but step up when you need them most. That unassuming but brilliant girl in your math class. The shy boy who is fantastic on his skateboard. The best friend that doesn’t need to ask because he just gets you, and the new friend that wants to be something more. Gina is the author of I Kiss Girls, a sweet YA romance about a lesbian girl in a small suburban town whose best friend, a straight guy, always gets the girl—until one day he doesn’t.
Gina loves all kinds of live music, musical theater, and superhero movies. She lives in the suburbs of New York City with her wife and children.
Website: www.eastmeetswestya.com
Email: [email protected]
Facebook group with Anne Key: www.facebook.com/groups/eastmeetswestya
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ginaharriswrites
Instagram: www.instagram.com/ginaharrisya
Twitter: twitter.com/ginaharrisya
ANNE KEY recently left her beloved Texas and now lives with her amazing wife in the New Mexico mountains, spending her time writing the kinds of books she wants to read, playing with her basset hounds, and making stuff that wants to be art when it grows up. She’s been writing and illustrating for decades, exploring media from poetry to sculpture, from romance novels to weaving. She believes in ghosts, in cowboys, in forgiveness, in happily ever after, in magic, and in love at first sight.
Mostly, she believes in experiencing your own personal joy wherever you can.
She loves to hear from readers and can be found at [email protected] or at annekeywrites.com, as well as on Facebook at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008784885898.
By Gina Harris
With Anne Key: Lone Star in Jersey
Published by HARMONY INK PRESS
www.harmonyinkpress.com
By Anne Key
With Gina Harris: Lone Star in Jersey
Stealing Bases
Published by HARMONY INK PRESS
www.harmonyinkpress.com
Published by
HARMONY INK PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
[email protected] • harmonyinkpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Lone Star in Jersey
© 2019 Gina Harris and Anne Key.
Cover Art
© 2019 Tiferet Design.
http://www.tiferetdesign.com/
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Harmony Ink Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or [email protected].
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-993-2
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-64080-994-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018909019
Digital published April 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America